Snack Time

I must admit, I was a little late getting a snack ready for the kids this afternoon. I spent way too much time on the computer, and on the phone with customer service reps who do not speak English!?! (Arrgh!) I was buying our plane tickets to CA for Christmas- yippee!

Anyway, Allie took it upon herself to find a snack. She found a pack of gum and ATE THE ENTIRE THING, including ALL the wrappers. I found her when Conner came running while screaming, "Allie is eating all dad's gum, and she ate the paper too!"

This is what I found. (Sorry, the pictures are not great.)

She really did eat it ALL! There were a couple pieces left half chewed in her mouth when I found her, but she swallowed them as quickly as she could to keep me from getting them. Allison is proving to be a little wild child - yes, more than Cayden was! And, yes, I have all my medicines, cleaners, etc. behind child locks! I just hope she does not figure those out.

Cayden's First Day of Preschool

Cayden was so excited to FINALLY start school, and asked daily how many more days until school starts. We drove by at least five times before school started so Cayden could see the playground - his biggest concern. His little school is in this gorgeous home, and is amazing!

All the cubbies had pictures of them, and their family members. He was so excited, but couldn't figure out how Miss Jenn had pictures of Allie and Conner. I told him that I emailed the pictures to her, but he was still amazed.

All the kids take off their "outside shoes" and put on "school shoes" upon arrival. This will be especially helpful when the snow starts to come, and the children arrive in wet snow boots. The kids have no idea they are ballet shoes, they just think they are comfy slippers! He loves them.

Moving his name from "At Home" to "At School" is the first task each day.

The children help with everything throughout the day, including dishes after snack, sweeping the floor, washing the tables after art - in addition to all the other preschool activities. Cayden thinks it is pretty cool, and has already told me that I load the dishwasher wrong, and that I need to sing the handwashing song to make sure my hands get really clean. So, I let him load the dishwasher now! It is fabulous!

"All by myself!"

Allison has had me running for my camera a lot the last few days. She is growing up, and really doing her own thing.

She found a new hiding place in her room. I am still not sure how she got in here without the basket tipping over.

She has been dying to play with the boys in the backyard, and I finally let her go, all on her own. Can you tell she had a blast? She went face first down the slide, and ate some dirt.

She will not let me feed her anything anymore. She must do it herself. Needless to say, we are wasting a lot of yogurt these days.

When the spoon fails, just go for the fist! She is also demanding to sit in the Stokke chairs, and I have to say, she does pretty well - I just don't want to buy a third one when she has a perfectly good high chair.

First Day of Kindergarten

I am pleased to announce that I did not cry this morning!  Yippee!  Conner started kindergarten this morning, and boy was he excited!

The kids put their backpack on the line, and can play until the bell rings.  Today, they also got name tags to wear when they dropped off their backpack.  This is the neatest school ever, and has a little playground just outside the front door of his classroom.

Cayden had a few moments when I thought he might cry (because he wants to go to school so badly!), but overall he did great and was excited for Conner.  Cayden's preschool does not start until next week.

Allie was more interested in the PTO snacks at the parent breakfast.

Just to show how lucky we are..... This school has a program (ISS) for the special education kids, and there are 3 kinders in this program.  They have their classroom teacher, two classroom aids assigned specifically to these 3 children, AND a special education teacher,  assigned to these 3, and 3 in first grade.  (Yep, that is right, six kids - while most special education teachers have over 30 kids on their caseload!!)  The typical developing children only stay mornings, while these 3 children get to stay all day, four days a week.  During the afternoons, they are provided with physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy.  They even get to go do swimming therapy every other Friday.  Also during the afternoons, the special education teacher gives them a preview of what will happen the next day with their entire class - so when the time comes, they will hopefully absorb as much as their classmates.  This afternoon time can also be used to review past activities.  I am amazed with the program, and know we are in the right place for Conner!

Best Beach Ever!

I know, I am probably not allowed to say that I found the best beach EVER on the east coast, since I grew up in California, so let me clarify.  If you are looking for great waves to surf, this beach is not for you.  However, if you have little ones, and want to let them play in the water ALL DAY by themselves, and not worry once if they will get knocked over by a wave, this is the perfect beach! It was even warm enough that I went in - which is saying a lot, since I am a big wimp when it comes to cold water.  Here are some shots from our fun day with friends!  (By the way, I am spending the rest of summer having fun with the kids, and will resume unpacking once school starts.)

All the kids!  We managed to arrive and leave with the same number!

One of the families we went with is from the Bay Area, and has two boys and a girl, exactly the same ages as ours!  I think we will be spending more time with them!  Here are all six kids.

Elizabeth & Allison 

BFF's already

Not a great shot, but wanted to show the little waves they were sitting in and loving.

Cayden & Zach

Conner doing what he loves, wandering around exploring, by himself.

In the distance to the right you can see a big sand bar we walked over to and played on for a while.  The boys loved that they could walk all the way over there (to the "island"), and the water only came to their waist.

Same location, one hour later.  The sand bar disappeared.  Even though the tide began to come in, the water was still perfect for the little ones to play.

I like this shot for two reasons: One, it shows how far in the distance the beach stays shallow enough to play in.  Two, Allie wanted to play with EVERYONE, even these two teenagers we did not know.  Funny girl!

Field Day

Yesterday was Field Day for the primary children at our church, and the kids had a blast.  They were all a little hesitant to leave my side at first, but I am sure this was due to the fact that they had never seen so many kids before!  Our little church in Aspen had only a handful of kids, and sometimes Conner & Cayden were the only ones.  Yesterday, there were dozens of kids of all ages, all playing together.  What fun!

Allie quickly learned about the sprinklers, loved them, and soaked all of her clothes.  So I took them off.  Then she learned about popsicles, loved them, and became one sticky mess, forcing us to return to the sprinklers . . . . Ahhhh, I hope all of our new friends here do not keep this as their first impression of our family!  :)

For a good laugh, click on the picture to enlarge it.  You can see just how sticky Allie was!

Our first East Coast Beach

Growing up in California, I had visions of what an east coast beach looked like.  Lots of rocks, cliffs, no sand, people wrapped in blankets, freezing cold water, etc.  I am not sure where this came from, but I do have to admit that our first trip to the beach here was gorgeous, and wiped all those images away.  It was warm, sandy, and everything I love about the California beaches I grew up with.  We had a great time!

We even had a cookout.